Nicaragua has concluded negotiations on a free trade deal with China, which is due to be signed in August and come into force early next year, Nicaraguan officials said Monday. “We thank God for the good news that we have achieved the substantial conclusion of the negotiations,” Laureano Ortega Murillo, presidential adviser on trade and investment, […]

Russia said Monday that drone attacks in central Moscow and annexed Crimea could warrant a harsh response, after Ukraine claimed an attack on the capital. ALSO READ: African Union regrets Russia’s suspension of grain cargo deal “We regard what happened as yet another use of terrorist methods and intimidation of the civilian population by the military […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Kyiv’s counteroffensive, launched to push Russian troops back in the south and east of Ukraine, was failing despite military and financial support from Western countries. ALSO READ: BREAKING: Vladimir Putin will NOT attend BRICS Summit in SA “In any case, there are no results yet” of the counteroffensive, he […]

Twenty-two countries from around the globe have applied to join the BRICS bloc and more have shown interest, South Africa said Thursday, ahead of the five-nation group’s summit next month. ALSO READ: BREAKING: Vladimir Putin will NOT attend BRICS Summit in SA BRICS, a loosely-defined group which sees itself as a counterweight to Western economic domination, derives its […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin decided against attending an upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg in person because he did not want to “jeopardise” the talks, a top South African diplomat said Thursday. ALSO READ: Mapaila: South Africa had no ‘capacity’ to arrest Putin Putin’s potential visit had posed a diplomatic and legal dilemma for South Africa ahead of the […]

In a statement released on 19 July, Suella Braverman, the UK’s Secretary of State for the Home Department announced that the United Kingdom has revoked it’s visa-free travel agreement and has instead imposed visa requirements for nationals of several countries when entering the UK. Last month Canada opened up visa-free entry arrangements for passport holders of […]

MOST POWERFUL PASSPORTS: WHO’S NUMBER ONE? Japan has officially been knocked off the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the first time in five years and moved into third position, according to the latest ranking, which is based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In a recent press release from Henley & Partners, Singapore […]

President Vladimir Putin on Monday vowed to retaliate after a Ukrainian attack on a bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to Russia killed two civilians and left their child wounded. ALSO READ: WATCH: BRICS summit to be ‘physical’ amid Putin warrant [VIDEO] “Another terrorist attack was committed on the bridge last night,” Putin said in televised remarks. “Of course, […]

Salvadoran officials on Monday announced the arrest of 110 members of an alleged international money laundering ring operating in the Central American country. Almost all member of the scheme were Colombian nationals, authorities in El Salvador said, alleging that they had failed to register as lenders and had offered residents loans with interest rates of 20 […]

Norway’s data protection agency said Monday it would ban Facebook and Instagram owner Meta from using the personal information of users for targeted advertising, threatening a $100,000 daily fine if it continues. The business practices of US big tech firms are under close scrutiny across Europe over concerns about privacy, with huge fines handed out […]

French prosecutors on Monday asked for 17 men to stand trial over rape and other crimes committed in the production of online pornography, a source close to the case told AFP. Accusations against the men include rape, gang rape, organised human trafficking and aggravated pimping, committed during video production for the “French Bukkake” platform, according to […]

Reuters: The South African rand retreated on Friday, bringing last week’s rally to a halt as prolonged power blackouts and expectations that the central bank will leave its main interest rate on hold next week weighed on the investor mood. SOUTH AFRICAN RAND RETREATED The risk-sensitive rand has been a big beneficiary of data this […]

Russia on Monday said a Ukrainian attack on the Moscow-built bridge linking annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland killed a civilian couple and wounded their child. Moscow said two drones had hit the bridge in the early hours of Monday and blamed “the Kyiv regime.” ALSO READ: NATO to address the upcoming summit about Ukraine Traffic […]

The Ukrainian navy and SBU security service carried out an overnight attack on the Russian-built bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia, a Ukrainian source told AFP Monday. ALSO READ: Ukraine retakes territory around Bakhmut from Russian forces “Today’s attack on the Crimean bridge is a special operation of the SBU and the navy,” the security service source said. […]

Ukraine said on Monday its forces had retaken several square kilometres of territory around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces seized in May. ALSO READ: Pope’s Ukraine peace envoy on visit to Moscow Kyiv last month began its highly anticipated fightback against entrenched Russian troops after stockpiling Western weapons and building up its offensive forces. “Over […]

The Hollywood actors’ union began to strike at midnight Thursday, after negotiations to reach a new contract with production studios ended without an agreement. Actors will join writers in the first industry-wide walkout for 63 years, effectively bringing the giant movie and television business to a halt. At 0701 GMT, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), representing around […]

A Russian anti-war activist living in Serbia was banned from entering the Balkan country after being stopped at Belgrade’s main airport Thursday, according to his lawyer. ALSO READ: Russia downs five Ukrainian drones in ‘terrorist act’ Peter Nikitin, who has permanent residency in Serbia, was prevented from entering at the request of the country’s Security Information […]

Heated arguments accompanied by fists flying have proven to be not just exclusive to Parliament in South Africa after the internet witnessed a brawl during a parliamentary sitting in the Republic of Kosovo, a country in Southeast Europe. WHAT TRIGGERED THE BRAWL IN PARLIAMENT? Mail Online reports that the furious brawl erupted after an opposition legislator threw […]

Huw Edwards has been the reassuring face and voice of the BBC for decades, and was entrusted last year with breaking the news to the world that Queen Elizabeth had died. The softly-spoken, proud Welshman began delivering the nightly news to millions in 1994, and has either anchored or commentated on the UK’s most tumultuous events since then. ALSO READ | REMINDER: When […]

Russia attacked Kyiv in an overnight drone strike, causing minor damage, authorities said Tuesday as NATO leaders prepare for a summit focused on supporting Ukraine against Moscow’s invasion. ALSO READ: Russia takes control of Wagner’s heavy military equipment “The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month,” Kyiv’s military administration said on its Telegram […]

Reuters: The dollar clawed back its losses on Monday, recovering from a knee-jerk reaction to data showing U.S. job gains were the smallest in two-and-a-half years, while disappointing inflation figures in China weighed on the yuan and proxies. U.S. DOLLAR CLAWED BACK ITS LOSSES Nonfarm payrolls increased 209,000 in June, figures released on Friday showed, […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Sunday 9 July 2023 that next month’s BRICS summit, which Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend, will be held in person despite an arrest warrant on the Russian leader. South Africa is the current chair of the BRICS, a grouping of heavyweights that also includes Brazil, Russia, India […]

The company that operated the sub which imploded during a dive into the Titanic wreck, killing all five people aboard, said Thursday 6 July 2023 it had halted all activities indefinitely. The Titan sub was reported missing on June 18 and the US Coast Guard said on June 22 that the vessel had suffered a […]

Twitter threatened to sue Meta just hours after the Instagram parent company launched Threads, an app it hopes will beat out the struggling site owned by Elon Musk. In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, published by online news outlet Semafor on Thursday, Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro accused the company of “unlawful misappropriation of […]

South Africa remains deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Palestine caused by Israel’s continued occupation, says International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister, Alvin Botes. “The demolition of Palestinians’ properties, continued illegal settlement and expansion by Israel of Palestine territories, forced evictions of Palestinians by the Israeli army from their territories, as well as collective […]